Name: body composition and metabolic caging analysis in high fat fed mice
Uploaded: 2018-05-24T14:00:00
Description: Watch this Scientific Journal Video about Body Composition and Metabolic Caging Analysis in High Fat Fed Mice at JoVE.com

We thank the staff from the Alfred Medical Research and Education Precinct Animal Services (AMREP AS) team for their assistance and care of the mice used in this study and for the support of the Operational Infrastructure Support scheme of the Victorian State Government.

All experiments described were approved by the Alfred Medical Research Education Precinct Animal Ethics Committee (AMREP AEC) and mice were provided humane care in line with the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) of Australia Guidelines on Animal experimentation. Animals were administered their prescribed diet and water ad libitum and housed in a temperature-controlled environment (~21 - 22 &#176;C) with a 12 h light and 12 h-dark cycle. Seven week old male mice (on a C57Bl/6J background) were ...

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Critical steps 
The protocols described herein provide an example of ways in which to measure body composition and various metabolic parameters in mice using a body composition analyzer and a metabolic animal monitoring system. For both techniques, it is critically important to ensure that the machines are working optimally, and to do this, it is imperative that the researcher performs a system test for the body composition analyzer and calibrates to a known gas composition fo...

Metabolism underpins many aspects of normal cellular, organ, and whole-body physiology. Consequently, in the setting of various pathologies, alterations to metabolism may directly contribute to the underlying condition or may be adversely impacted as a side-effect of the pathology. Traditionally, metabolic research and studies into energy balance have been concentrated on the field of obesity and related conditions such as insulin resistance, pre-diabetes, glucose intolerance, cardiovascular disease, and diabetes. This research is warranted given the escalating prevalence of such conditions worldwide and the individual, societal, and economic costs these conditions inflict. As such, the development of prevention strategies and new therapeutics to target obesity is a continuing goal in research laboratories around the world and preclinical mouse models are heavily relied upon for these studies.
While weighing mice provides a reliable assessment of weight gain or loss, it does not provide a breakdown of the different components that make up whole-body composition (fat mass, lean mass, free water as well as other components such as fur and claws). The weighing of fat pads at the completion of studies once the mouse is deceased provides an accurate measure of different fat depots but can only provide data for a single time point. As a consequence, it is often necessary to enroll multiple cohorts to investigate the development of obesity over time, significantly increasing animal numbers, time, and costs. The use of dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DEXA) provides an approach to assess body fat and lean tissue contents and allows the researcher to obtain data in a longitudinal fashion. However, the procedure requires mice to be anesthetized1, and repeated bouts of anesthesia may impact the accumulation of adipose tissue or impact other aspects of metabolic regulation. EchoMRI utilizes nuclear magnetic resonance relaxometry to measure fat and lean mass, free water, and total water content. This is achievable due to the creation of contrast between the different tissue components, with differences in the duration, amplitude and spatial distribution of generated radio frequencies allowing the delineation and quantification of each tissue type. This technique is advantageous as it is non-invasive, quick, simple, requires no anesthesia or radiation, and, importantly, has been positively validated against chemical analysis2.
A key consideration of obesity and related research is the energy balance equation. While fat accumulation is more complicated than purely energy in (food intake) versus energy out (energy expenditure), they are vital factors to be able to measure. Daily energy expenditure is the total of four different components: (1) basal energy expenditure (resting metabolic rate); (2) the energy expenditure due to the thermic effect of food consumption; (3) the energy required for thermoregulation; and (4) the energy spent on physical activity. As energy expenditure generates heat, measuring heat production by an animal (known as direct calorimetry) can be used to assess energy expenditure. Alternatively, measurement of inspired and expired concentrations of O2 and CO2, allowing for determination of whole-body O2 consumption and CO2 production, can be utilized as a way to indirectly measure (indirect calorimetry) heat production and consequently calculate energy expenditure. An increase in food intake or a decrease in energy expenditure will predispose mice to weight gain and observations of changes in these parameters can provide useful information of likely mechanisms of action in particular models of obesity. A related metabolic parameter of interest is the respiratory exchange ratio (RER), an indicator of the proportion of substrate/fuel (i.e., carbohydrate or fat) that is undergoing metabolism and being utilized to produce energy. Consequently, measurement of food intake (energy consumed) combined with physical activity levels, O2 consumption, RER, and energy expenditure can provide a broad understanding of an organism&#39;s metabolic profile. One method to gather such data is to use a comprehensive laboratory animal monitoring system (CLAMS), which is based on the indirect calorimetry method to measure energy expenditure and has the added capabilities of determining physical activity levels (beam breaks) and food intake via scales incorporated into the measurement chamber.
In this protocol we provide a straight-forward description of the use of a body composition analyzer to assess body composition in mice and a metabolic animal monitoring system to measure aspects of metabolism. Considerations and limitations for these techniques will be discussed as well as suggested methods of analysis, interpretation, and data representation.

<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="1053">
	<tbody>
		<tr height="21">
			<td height="21" style="height:21px;width:251px;">4 in 1 system</td>
			<td style="width:157px;">EchoMRI</td>
			<td style="width:275px;">4 in 1 system</td>
			<td style="width:371px;">Whole body composition analyser</td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="42">
			<td height="42" style="height:42px;">Canola oil test sample (COSTS)</td>
			<td>EchoMRI</td>
			<td style="width:275px;">Mouse-specific (contact company for cat number)</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="21">
			<td height="21" style="height:21px;">Animal specimen holder&#160;</td>
			<td>EchoMRI</td>
			<td style="width:275px;">103-E56100R</td>
			<td style="width:371px;"></td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="21">
			<td height="21" style="height:21px;width:251px;">Delimiter&#160;</td>
			<td>EchoMRI</td>
			<td style="width:275px;">600-E56100D</td>
			<td style="width:371px;"></td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="21">
			<td height="21" style="height:21px;">12 chamber system</td>
			<td>Columbus Instruments</td>
			<td>Custom built</td>
			<td>Metabolic Caging System; includes control program</td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="21">
			<td height="21" style="height:21px;">Drierite</td>
			<td>Fisher Scientific</td>
			<td>238988</td>
			<td>CLAMS consumable</td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="25">
			<td height="25" style="height:25px;">Calibration gas tank</td>
			<td>Air Liquide</td>
			<td>Mixed to order</td>
			<td>Gas calibration (0.5% CO2, 20.5% O2, balance nitrogen).&#160;</td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="21">
			<td height="21" style="height:21px;">Normal chow diet</td>
			<td>Specialty Feeds</td>
			<td>Irradiated mouse and rat diet</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="21">
			<td height="21" style="height:21px;">High fat diet</td>
			<td>Specialty Feeds</td>
			<td>SF04-001</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="21">
			<td height="21" style="height:21px;">Balance</td>
			<td>Mettler Toledo</td>
			<td>PL202-S</td>
			<td>Balance for weighing mice</td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="21">
			<td height="21" style="height:21px;">TexQ Disinfectant spray</td>
			<td>TexWipe</td>
			<td></td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="21">
			<td height="21" style="height:21px;">Hydrogen Peroxide cleaning solution</td>
			<td>TexWipe</td>
			<td>TX684</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
	</tbody>
</table>

body composition and metabolic caging analysis in high fat fed mice

Alterations to body composition (fat or lean mass), metabolic parameters such as whole-body oxygen consumption, energy expenditure, and substrate utilization, and behaviors such as food intake and physical activity can provide important information regarding the underlying mechanisms of disease. Given the importance of body composition and metabolism to the development of obesity and its subsequent sequelae, it is necessary to make accurate measures of these parameters in the pre-clinical research setting. Advances in technology over the past few decades have made it possible to derive these measures in rodent models in a non-invasive and longitudinal fashion. Consequently, these metabolic measures have proven useful when assessing the response of genetic manipulations (for example knockout or transgenic mice, viral knock-down or overexpression of genes), experimental drug/compound screening and dietary, behavioral or physical activity interventions. Herein, we describe the protocols used to measure body composition and metabolic parameters using an animal monitoring system in chow-fed and high fat diet-fed mice.

The results seen in Figure 3 display a typical change in body composition parameters upon high fat feeding, as measured via EchoMRI. At baseline there was no difference in any parameter measured (Figure 3A-F). However, after just 1 week of high fat feeding, there was a significant increase in body weight, fat mass, and fat mass percentage in the HFD group (Figure 3A,B</strong...

Watch this Scientific Journal Video about Body Composition and Metabolic Caging Analysis in High Fat Fed Mice at JoVE.com

Body Composition and Metabolic Caging Analysis in High Fat Fed Mice

This protocol describes the use of a body composition analyzer and metabolic animal monitoring system to characterize body composition and metabolic parameters in mice. An obesity model induced by high-fat feeding is used as an example for the application of these techniques.

Alterations to body composition (fat or lean mass), metabolic parameters such as whole-body oxygen consumption, energy expenditure, and substrate ...

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